Bad weather and broken generator stall bid to rescue Peru miners

Record ID: 164832

  • Title: Bad weather and broken generator stall bid to rescue Peru miners
  • Date: 19th January 2017
  • Summary: LIMA, PERU (JANUARY 19, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINES GONZALO TAMAYO, ENERGY AND MINES MINISTER, WALKING INTO ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GONZALO TAMAYO, ENERGY AND MINES MINISTER, SAYING: "Unfortunately until now we have no information that the process has been successful. This generates, as you will understand, a lot of concern because these miners are, according to the information that we have, trapped between 100 and 150 meters underground in one of the galleries where there has been a landslide. And as you know, a landslide not only brings water, but also mud and stones, with it. What we were using were pumps to extract water but these pumps are inefficient to extract sludge." MORE OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH MINISTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GONZALO TAMAYO, ENERGY AND MINES MINISTER, SAYING: "The company is totally involved in this situation involving seven compatriots, several of whom are under the age of 25; one who is 45 and another who is about 30. It is a company which is in the process of being legally formalized. It is a company, in Arequipa, which has presented the paperwork to the regional government of Arequipa and it also was in the process of mining formalisation previously. It had already started the steps within the current formalization process." MINISTERS LEAVING AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2017 21:57
  • Keywords: Heavy rain equipment Peru miners trapped landslide
  • Location: LIMA + AREQUIPA, PERU
  • City: LIMA + AREQUIPA, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015ZR1AV7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Heavy rain and equipment failure stalled efforts in Peru on Thursday (January 19) to rescue seven miners who were trapped in a tunnel hundreds of meters (feet) below ground by a landslide three days ago, officials said.
    Four of the men may already be dead, according to a miner who escaped on Tuesday (January 17), a day after the mine in the southern region of Arequipa was engulfed.
    The breakdown of a generator used to power machinery cutting a path to the 200-metre (660 feet) deep tunnel added to fears that time was running out to find them alive.
    "Unfortunately until now we have no information that the process has been successful. This generates, as you will understand, a lot of concern because these miners are, according to the information that we have, trapped between 100 and 150 meters underground in one of the galleries where there has been a landslide. And as you know, a landslide not only brings water, but also mud and stones, with it. What we were using were pumps to extract water but these pumps are inefficient to extract sludge," Gonzalo Tamayo energy and mines minister told a news conference in Lima.
    Sounds coming from the miners stopped late on Wednesday, regional mining officials told local media.
    Rescue efforts at the mine in the Acari district did not begin until early on Wednesday when word of the landslide reached emergency responders.
    Attempts to reach the miners were then slowed by debris from landslides that blocked roads and a torrential downpour that delayed by several hours a helicopter bringing men and supplies.
    A new generator and a submersible pump were needed urgently, said Jorge Martinez, a senior Arequipa firefighter.
    The miner who escaped said he believed three of his seven colleagues were alive when he got out, according to regional health official Gustavo Rondon.
    It was unclear who owns the mine, which is in an area where illegal and informal miners often dig for gold in precarious conditions. A mining ministry spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about who owns the rights to mine there.
    Tamayo said the company was in a process of becoming legally formalised.
    "The company is totally involved in this situation involving seven compatriots, several of whom are under the age of 25; one who is 45 and another who is about 30. It is a company which is in the process of being legally formalized. It is a company, in Arequipa, which has presented the paperwork to the regional government of Arequipa and it also was in the process of mining formalisation previously. It had already started the steps within the current formalization process," Tamayo said.
    President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has said the government was working with local officials to provide any support required.
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